Metallic parts may be modified and/or manufactured through a laser net shape manufacturing processes known as laser cladding or laser consolidation. Laser cladding may be performed to enhance the surface properties of machine parts locally with powder or wires melted via a laser beam. Likewise, laser consolidation is a similar process but with a different objective. Laser consolidation involves manufacturing a part through depositing multiple layers of material.
In laser cladding and/or consolidation, a laser beam creates a molten pool on a substrate into which powder is deposited in a beam/powder interaction zone. Concurrently, the substrate on which the deposition is occurring is moving with respect to the beam/powder interaction zone to fabricate the desired cross-sectional geometry. Consecutive layers may be additively deposited, thereby producing a three-dimensional part.
However, current techniques and/or devices used for laser net shape manufacturing may produce varying results, based on one or more factors such as: the beam size, powder concentration, powder velocity, shielding gas flow shape, shielding gas flow speed, and the defocus of the laser beam.